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Council says emergency ordinance will rescind disputed retroactive capital connection fees
Summary
Chesapeake Beach mayor and council signaled they will introduce an emergency ordinance to rescind retroactive capital connection fees after residents reported unusually large bills; council asked staff to draft language and to ensure affected residents would not face water shutoffs while matter is resolved.
Chesapeake Beach officials said they will prepare an emergency ordinance to rescind retroactive capital connection fees after residents reported receiving unusually large assessments.
The mayor told the council she intends to bring an emergency ordinance rescinding those fees at the next town council meeting. The ordinance will target fees assessed retroactively to permitted work, the mayor said; council members indicated the change was not intended to apply to new construction but to previously billed accounts.
The announcement followed council comments that several residents had been billed for amounts described in the meeting transcript as “30,060,000.” Council members acknowledged that figure in the record but said staff must review the underlying bills and that the precise amounts and the cause of the charges remain under review. Councilmember Jamie Schulz said the town should ensure residents would not face water shutoffs during the holiday season while staff and council work the matter.
Council members asked staff to draft ordinance language and to bring the item to a work session for more detail. The mayor and other council members said they were leaning toward rescinding the retroactive assessments rather than defending them in their current form. No formal vote on the ordinance occurred at the meeting; the council directed staff to prepare the ordinance for a future meeting.
The discussion links to a separate review of capital connection and EDU (equivalent dwelling unit) calculations for a local business, Rod and Reel, where town staff said they were still waiting for revised permits and supporting documentation from the business before completing an updated allocation of EDUs.
The council did not publish a timetable for when the emergency ordinance text would be circulated to the public; members said they expected to flesh out details at an upcoming work session.
Context: The town’s mayor introduced the topic during the “unfinished business” portion of the meeting and framed the action as an immediate priority for residents who had received retroactive bills. Council members emphasized the need for staff to confirm which accounts and time periods the rescission would cover, and to ensure any action complied with county and state procedures where applicable.
